Picture the hot, dirty, crowded Schluntz Gymnasium where beads of sweat form on your neck as you stand on backpacks, cheering for your classmates at the pep rally.

Now erase that image entirely.

Imagine a spacious, ornately decorated room that hosts 350 of Brookline’s inhabitants dressed in sleek tuxedos and sparkling dresses. Beams of warm light from golden disco balls, twinkling chandeliers and purple lamps illuminate a fully stocked bar and long tables of items up for silent auction.

What you are visualizing is the entrance to the 21st Century Fund’s 11th Annual Gala.

Separated from the entrance by a white curtain are rows upon rows of circular dining tables leafed in gold. Waiters and servers in white shirts carry trays of champagne glasses to the guests.

From a raised stage, brightened by floodlights installed on a large metal scaffold hanging from the ceiling, English Curriculum Coordinator Mary Burchenal presents the man of the hour, the honoree of this 2011 gala.

Former headmaster Bob Weintraub promptly steps to the microphone with his usual radiating smile and says, “Thank you for coming to my Bar Mitzvah.”

The lavish expenses of transforming the Schluntz Gymnasium proved worthwhile, as this year’s gala raised more than $380,000 to contribute Weintraub’s philosophy of reaching out to each individual student through the programs created by the 21st Century Fund.

According to marketing consultant Eve Harris, the money raised at the event exceeded the 21st Century Fund’s net goal.

The gala, entitled “A Lifetime of Making a Difference One Student at a Time,” was themed after Loren Eisley’s poem “The Starfish” to highlight this philosophy, according to executive director Jessica Conaway.

“We are trying to live up to Bob’s gold standard of excellence,” said Conaway, referring to the extravagant decorations. “We are trying to live up to everything that he’s done as a headmaster here.”

Weintraub and a group of committed private donors founded the 21st Century Fund in 1998, envisioning a private foundation that would fund “innovation of the school,” according to Conaway. Conaway said that they established it to address the challenges and issues the school faced and to create classes and programs that help make the high school the best it can be. The 21st Century Fund hopes that, through its programs, students can be reached on a more personal level.

When speaking of offering special help to students and addressing the achievement gap in the school, Selectwoman Nancy Daly said, “Those are critical issues and sometimes when you’re trying to do so many things with your school budget, you don’t have the extra funds to zero in on some of the issues that really need it. That’s what the 21st Century does. It fills that gap and makes that difference.”

Specifically, the 21st Century Fund will use some of the money raised from donations, ticket sales and auctions during the gala to continue support of the relatively new Global Leadership and Social Justice programs, according to Associate Dean Anthony Meyer.

Funding for the African-American Scholars Program, the Ithaka Project and the Family Partnership also rely on proceeds from the Annual Gala.

According to faculty director of programs Gaelen Harrington, a small portion of the money will go to paying the office staff and the administration.

“We want the bulk of the money be spent on the programming that is making a difference,” said Harrington.

During an innovation summit dubbed “Innovation Palooza” by Conaway, 10 proposals for programs that the Fund may potentially sponsor arose, according to Harrington. The money would go towards the proposed programs that get selected for implementation, though they have not been completely formed yet.

“They’re still in the process of being drafted. I could describe a proposal now, and it could very well be something quite different a month from now,” said Harrington.

Nevertheless, three of the most developed programs at this point include a math elective that would be project-based and focus on real world applications of math, a medical translation and interpretation class in which internship time at local hospitals would be available, and a course that combines drawing and biology. The latter would observe the role of art in the sciences, allow drawing to communicate information and break down the artificial barrier between art and science, according to Harrington.

Math teacher Lisa Redding also spoke of the importance of a multidisciplinary math program.

“Really, math and science work together in the real world,” said Redding.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Harrington. “Are we going to be able to fund all the proposals? No. But that people are thinking creatively and not just staying with the status quo is really important. And I think that is the Fund’s importance in the school, that it gives faculty incentive to think beyond what’s currently available.”

It is because of this spirit of academic innovation that social studies teacher Michael Normant does not see the gala as a final goodbye to Weintraub.

“His legacy will be here forever,” said Normant. “I’ve only been here for five years, but I already know that the work that Dr. Bob has done in his time here is what has made Brookline High what it is.”

According to the 21st Century Fund’s website, the fund has raised over $8 million in its 13 years of existence, creating 16 programs, several of which have since become national models. It is Weintraub’s philosophy of helping one student at a time that inspired the current leaders of the 21st Century Fund to choose the former headmaster as their honoree, according to Conaway.

“Young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!” said Burchenal, reading aloud the words of a cynical elder in Loren Eisley’s poem “The Starfish.” As the young man throws a beached starfish into the ocean, he responds, “It made a difference for that one.”

“Amen,” said Weintraub as he ascended to the podium for what many hoped would not be his last speech in Brookline.

Ben Berke and Alex Johnson can be contacted at bhs.sagamore@gmail.com.